This month’s Quadrant announces that Paddy McGuinness is stepping down as editor at the end of the year. Blogging on Quadrant‘s 50th birthday last year I thought the magazine’s best years were behind it, but I still think there can be good years ahead.

So far as I can tell, as an occasional contributor and mixing with others who contribute to it, editors have rarely done much to shape its content. With the luxury of a steady flow of OK articles coming in, they haven’t had to cultivate authors or put a lot of effort into deciding what topics should be covered. Doing so could achieve articles of more even quality (though as with all essentially voluntary publications, things will always be a bit patchy).

There are some obvious things that can be done to make the magazine more attractive, such as improving its design and website. Writers are attracted to an audience, and the larger the audience the more willing people will be to write for you.

If I was 25 years older I’d think of applying myself, but from what I hear about the salary it would be a hard job to take unless you were already financially secure.